~LENORA'S POV
"And you're never going back to a world where it isn't."
His words hit me like a physical blow, and for a moment, the room went completely silent. I stopped thrashing, my breath hitching as the finality of what he said started to sink in.
I looked into his crimson eyes, searching for any sign that he was joking, but there was nothing but a cold look that told me he meant every word.
The realization that my entire life might be gone in an instant made my head spin, and I felt a hollow ache open up in my chest.
I went quiet, my mind racing as I tried to wrap my head around the idea that the world I knew was now out of reach.
"Why am I here? Why did you bring me here against my will?" I finally managed to scream, my voice raw with a new wave of panic.
"This is kidnapping! It's a crime!" I started to writhe again, every fiber of my being screaming at me to escape.
He tilted his head and watched my panic as if it were the most fascinating thing he had ever seen.
"You're being dramatic. No kidnapping actually happened," he said, and I could tell he was enjoying the way fear was curling inside me.
"If I really wanted to, I could have just stopped time at that party and taken you without you ever noticing. But I didn't do that because I wanted you to come here willingly."
The idea of stopping time echoed in my head, but I didn't have a second to think about what that even meant. I had more important things to worry about, like finding a way to escape.
"Willingly?" I asked, my pulse hammering in my ears. "I never agreed to any of this!"
"Not here and not now, obviously," he said as his thumb pressed against my wrist like a silent warning. "But you are here anyway, and resisting me is only going to make things much harder for you. Still, I do enjoy a challenge when it's actually worth my time."
I bit my lip to force myself not to cry even though a knot of fear and defiance was twisting in my stomach.
I refused to go quiet and I wasn't going to let him treat me like a pawn, no matter how terrifying he was.
I strained my hands against him, "I don't give two shits about who or what you think you are! You can't just decide to keep me here against my will! You pervert!"
Zephyr hummed at my defiance. "You have a lot of spirit. I like that about you," he said. "But you need to realize you are not in your world anymore, so running and hiding isn't going to help you. And I definitely won't let you run away from me."
I refused to look defeated because I couldn't afford to show weakness. "I won't stay!" I shouted, and even though my voice shook and tears were threatening to spill.
I swallowed them down, because I had to sound brave even if I was trembling on the inside.
"Fear is natural and defiance is admirable, but you have to understand the rules of this realm," he said. "You aren't like the others here, and they aren't like you. Strength, obedience, and survival all work differently in this place."
I clenched my fists as a mixture of rage and fear rose in my chest. "I don't care about your fucking rules! I didn't ask to be here and I shouldn't be here!" I screamed, and my voice broke as the words echoed off the cold stone walls of the massive room.
Zephyr tilted his head and studied me with a possessive fire in his eyes. "No one ever really asks. Life is rarely fair, even for mortals," he said.
"You survived in your world because you're clever and quick, but cleverness alone isn't going to save you here."
I bit back a sob, my defiance mixing with the panic curling in my stomach.
"Then what am I supposed to do? Just stay here and accept it?" My voice wavered, but I still tried to challenge him. I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me broken.
"You will adapt because you have no other choice," he said. He loosened his grip on one of my wrists just slightly, but it felt like a reminder that he could crush my bones if I made a wrong move.
"For now, you are a guest of Hell. And as long as you are here, you belong to my shadow. That makes me responsible for you."
"Responsible?" I scoffed, shaking my head. "You think you're responsible for my well being just because you kidnapped me? And taking away my freedom?"
He didn't even bother to react to my words. "As for why you're here," Zephyr said, his face staying completely blank. "I am not the one who is going to explain that to you. You will wait until Alaric is ready to speak."
I felt my stomach drop, and my fury quickly turned into confusion. "Who the hell is Alaric?" I snapped, my voice trembling with desperation. "Another psycho like you?"
He let out a dark, dry laugh, his lips curling into a smirk that didn't feel friendly at all.
"Another psycho?" He paused. "He is my older brother," Zephyr said. "The one you saw with the silver hair and the blindfold."
I swallowed hard as that name echoed in my mind. It triggered a memory of the brief vision I had seen when I first fell into this place.
That figure I had glimpsed in the throne room right before he vanished into smoke. That was him.
Fear made my limbs go stiff and my mind started to spin. I couldn't comprehend the weight of my sins to have made these creatures drawn to me.
"You're all monsters," I whispered, my chest heaving as I trembled.
"No, Dove," he murmured, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous tone. "Monsters are pathetic and hideous. Do I look pathetic to you?"
I froze and stared at him, trying to make sense of what he was saying, but there was something strange about the way he stood, especially the way the shadows seemed to fold and shift along his back.
I kept blinking, trying to catch the anomaly that I couldn't quite put a name to.
"What are you?" I asked, my voice so quiet it was barely a breath.
Zephyr didn't answer right away. He just leaned back, while the shadows around him twitched as if they were alive.
I dropped my gaze to his back when I saw a strange ripple move along his shoulder blades. It looked like something huge was forming under his skin, but I didn't understand what it was.
I blinked, trying to tell myself I was just seeing things, but the movement didn't stop. It became more obvious as something began to stretch and fold in a way that made no sense to me.
My defiance died out instantly, and a cold fear took its place.
I was just a human, and I was standing in front of something I couldn't even explain.
Zephyr let go of my wrist completely and stepped away from me, giving me room to watch as the movement on his back grew more intense.
Two massive shapes spread out from his shoulders. They were a deep, glowing red that caught the light from the torches, and they were so big that they made the entire room feel smaller.
My pulse was racing because everything I thought I knew about the world had just been proven wrong. This wasn't a costume or a trick.
I stared at him, unable to find my voice as the shock and terror took over.
"W-wings," I whispered, the words barely coming out.
My mind was a complete mess. I waited for him to tell me it wasn't real, but he just stood there with a look that told me I was stuck.
I slowly sank to the floor, my body trembling as I finally understood how hopeless my situation really was.
"I'm a demon," Zephyr said, and the pride in his voice made my blood run cold. "And you're never going back to a world where we don't exist."
He continued to watch me with a dark, satisfied look, and then he suddenly stamped his foot hard against the stone ground.
A massive portal tore open beneath me. I didn't have time to gasp before the floor vanished entirely.
I fell into the darkness, screaming as the cold air rushed past me, but I didn't fall for long.
Before the shadows could swallow me up, Zephyr dove in after me.
He caught me in mid-air, his strong arms locking around my waist and pulling me against his chest as we dropped into the dark.